94 research outputs found
Primeros resultados del análisis polínico del depósito lacustre del "Pla de l'Estany (Olot, Girona)
Se presenta un avance del análi_sis palino l ógico de una prospecc ión de 17 .5 metros, realizada al Noreste de la Península I bérica, al pie de los Pirineos , y centrado en los nivel es turbases o de tríti cos . La turbera superior pertenece al Subboreal y al Subatl ánt i co . En todo el diagrama dominan los árbol es sucediéndose cronológi camente l os bosques de Ab ies /Fagus, Pinus y finalmente Quercus .In thi s paper we present sorne prel iminary data f r om a pal yno logical analysis of a e ore 17.5 m deep taken in t he Pyrenes N. E. Spain . We ha ve examined the peat (which in is upper level appeared to belong to the Subboreal and Subatlantic period) and the al so detritic l ay e r s .. The dominant taxa encountered , ,ere al ! trees which appeared , in c hronol ogical orde r 1 as, follows : Abies/ Fagus 1 Pinus and Quercus
14C dating of the last Croscat volcano eruption (Garrotxa Region, NE Iberian Peninsula)
In this shortnote, we present the results of a geochronological study of the last eruption in the volcanic region of the Garrotxa (NE Iberian Peninsula). Four 14C analysis of organic matter contained in palaeosols located under volcanic pyroclastic fall deposits of the Croscat volcano were made. The samples gave ages between 13160 and 15710 years cal BP, and are in accord with our palynological analysis and climate reconstruction at that time. The ages that we report are the youngest obtained for volcanic activity in the Iberian Peninsula
Prehistoric palaeodemographics and regional land cover change in eastern Iberia
Much attention has been placed on the drivers of vegetation change on the Iberian Peninsula. While climate plays a key role in determining the species pools within different regions and exerts a strong influence on broad vegetation patterning, the role of humans, particularly during prehistory, is less clear. The aim of this paper is to assess the influence of prehistoric population change on shaping vegetation patterns in eastern Iberia and the Balearic Islands between the start of the Neolithic and the late Bronze Age. In all, 3385 radiocarbon dates have been compiled across the study area to provide a palaeodemographic proxy (radiocarbon summed probability distributions (SPDs)). Modelled trends in palaeodemographics are compared with regional-scale vegetation patterns deduced from analysis of 30 fossil pollen sequences. The pollen sequences have been standardised with count data aggregated into contiguous 200-year time windows from 11,000 cal. yr BP to the present. Samples have been classified using cluster analysis to determine the predominant regional land cover types through the Holocene. Regional human impact indices and diversity metrics have been derived for north-east and south-east Spain and the Balearic Islands. The SPDs show characteristic boom-and-bust cycles of population growth and collapse, but there is no clear synchronism between north-east and south-east Spain other than the rise of Neolithic farming. In north-east Iberia, patterns of demographic change are strongly linked to changes in vegetation diversity and human impact indicator groups. In the south-east, increases in population throughout the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Age result in more open landscapes and increased vegetation diversity. The demographic maximum occurred early in the 3rd millennium cal. BP on the Balearic Islands and is associated with the highest levels of human impact indicator groups. The results demonstrate the importance of population change in shaping the abundance and diversity of taxa within broad climatically determined biomes
Late Holocene Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Miller) woodlands in Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Western Mediterranean): Investigation of their distribution and the role of human management based on anthracological, dendro-anthracological and archaeopalynological data
The pioneering nature of Mediterranean pines and their phytosociological role have been largely discussed in relation to different agents (e.g., edaphic, climatic or anthropogenic). In this context, Aleppo pine is one of the most widespread pine species in the Mediterranean basin, as it is especially adapted to climatic constraints, such as drought and high seasonality, and has a high tolerance for salinity and strong coastal winds. It is also well adapted to regeneration after anthropogenic landscape disturbances, highlighting its important after-fire regeneration rates. In this sense, phytosociological studies conducted in Mediterranean landscapes have found that this species'' wide distribution is mostly due to its rapid regeneration after human landscape transformation, including fire, and the abandonment of agricultural lands. Aleppo pine is considered to broadly develop after human action in sclerophyllous formation, in which it would be scarce or absent without human intervention. Parallel, paleoenvironmental and archaeobotanical studies have attempted to trace these trends back to prehistoric times to investigate this species'' role in Late Pleistocene and Holocene vegetation and evaluate the role of climate and human action in its diachronic dynamics. In this study, we present a compendium of anthracological, dendro-anthracological and archaeopalyonological data with the objective of (i) investigating the nature and distribution of Aleppo pine on the island of Mallorca and (ii) evaluating the possibility that human action could have resulted in the spread of this pine species during the first two millennia of permanent human occupation of the island (c. 2300 cal. BCE–1st-century ACE). Investigating these archaeobotanical datasets, as well as making comparisons with anthracological and paleoenvironmental studies in neighbouring Mediterranean zones (Iberia), allowed us to attest that Aleppo pine is a natural, pre-human component of the Holocene vegetation of the island, and it is especially well-adapted to coastal environments. Moreover, we describe the trends and characteristics of the human management of pine woodlands through anthracology and dendro-anthracology, suggesting that human action did not provoke widespread growth of Aleppo pine in Mallorca at the expense of other vegetation types during prehistory. Such processes, well-documented by current phytosociological studies, probably began at some unknown point after the Romanisation of the island
White dwarf-main sequence binaries from Gaia EDR3 : the unresolved 100 pc volume-limited sample
We use the data provided by the Gaia Early Data Release 3 to search for a highly-complete volume-limited sample of unresolved binaries consisting of a white dwarf and a main sequence companion (i.e. WDMS binaries) within 100 pc. We select 112 objects based on their location within the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, of which 97 are new identifications. We fit their spectral energy distributions (SED) with a two-body fitting algorithm implemented in VOSA (Virtual Observatory SED Analyser) to derive the effective temperatures, luminosities and radii (hence surface gravities and masses) of both components. The stellar parameters are compared to those from the currently largest catalogue of close WDMS binaries, from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We find important differences between the properties of the Gaia and SDSS samples. In particular, the Gaia sample contains WDMS binaries with considerably cooler white dwarfs and main sequence companions (some expected to be brown dwarfs). The Gaia sample also shows an important population of systems consisting of cool and extremely low-mass white dwarfs, not present in the SDSS sample. Finally, using a Monte Carlo population synthesis code, we find that the volume-limited sample of systems identified here seems to be highly complete (≃ 80 ± 9 per cent), however it only represents ≃9 per cent of the total underlying population. The missing ≃91 per cent includes systems in which the main sequence companions entirely dominate the SEDs. We also estimate an upper limit to the total space density of close WDMS binaries of ≃ (3.7 ± 1.9) × 10-4 pc-3.Fil: Rebassa Mansergas, A. Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya. Departament de Física Enginyeria; EspañaFil: Solano, E.. CSIC-INTA. Centro de Astrobiología; EspañaFil: Jiménez Esteban, F. M.. CSIC-INTA. Centro de Astrobiología; EspañaFil: Torres, S.. Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya. Departament de Física Enginyeria; EspañaFil: Rodrigo, C.. CSIC-INTA. Centro de Astrobiología; EspañaFil: Ferrer Burjachs, A. Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya. Departament de Física Enginyeria; EspañaFil: Calcaferro, Leila Magdalena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Althaus, Leandro Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Córsico, Francisco Armando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; Argentin
Youngest Iberian Holocene volcanic eruptions and paleoenvironmental evolution of a barrier-paleolake in the Garrotxa Volcanic Field (NE Spain)
Volcanic eruptions are key drivers of climate variability, with complex environmental consequences at regional and local scales that are rarely documented in high-resolution sedimentary records. In this work we present the results of a 15 m long paleolake core (Pla de les Preses core, Vall d’en Bas, Girona, NE Spain) covering the Late Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Multiproxy analyses including chronostratigraphy, sedimentology, micropalaeontology and geochemistry are used to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental framework of the Late Pleistocene-Holocene transition and to detect the youngest Holocene volcanic eruptions in the Garrotxa Volcanic Field (GVF) and the Iberian Peninsula. The studied sedimentary record covers the last ca. 13.5 ka cal BP and was punctuated by several rapid climatic changes including the 9.3, 8.2 and 7.1 ka events, affecting the hydrological evolution of a barrier-lake formed due to the volcanic damming of the Fluvià river. Sedimentological and geochemical analyses unveil the environmental history of Vall d’en Bas valley; the formation of a lacustrine area within a fluvial environment around 13.5 ka cal BP and later a wetland phase between 9.3 and 8.2 ka cal BP. Abrupt sedimentary changes marking the onset and demise of the wetland phase were linked to hemispheric cooling and drying events (e.g. 9.3 and 8.2 ka cal BP), provoking a decline in the water table during these phases. In addition, 30 tephra layers are detected thorough the core, showing previously unknown intense volcanic activity from 13.5 to 8.3 ka cal BP in the GVF. In that sense, the Pla de les Preses sequence provides, for the first time, evidence for early Holocene volcanic activity in NE Iberia that should be taken into account in future tephra studies in the western Mediterranean realm
White dwarf-main-sequence binaries from Gaia EDR3: The unresolved 100 pc volume-limited sample
We use the data provided by the Gaia Early Data Release 3 to search for a highly-complete volume-limited sample of unresolved binaries consisting of a white dwarf and a main sequence companion (i.e. WDMS binaries) within 100 pc. We select 112 objects based on their location within the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, of which 97 are new identifications. We fit their spectral energy distributions (SED) with a two-body fitting algorithm implemented in VOSA (Virtual Observatory SED Analyser) to derive the effective temperatures, luminosities and radii (hence surface gravities and masses) of both componentsARM acknowledges financial support from the MINECO under the
Ramón y Cajal program (RYC-2016-20254). ST and ARM acknowledge support from the MINECO under the AYA2017-86274-P grant,
and the AGAUR grant SGR-661/2017. ESM and FJE acknowledge
financial support from the MINECO under the AYA2017-86274-P
grant. FJE acknowledges support from the H2020 ESCAPE project
(Grant Agreement no. 824064). LMC, LGA and AHC acknowledge
support from AGENCIA through the Programa de Modernización
Tecnológica BID 1728/OC-AR, and from CONICET through the
PIP 2017-2019 GI grant. This publication makes use of VOSA
and SVO DiscTool, developed under the Spanish Virtual Observatory project supported from the Spanish MINECO through grant
AyA2017-84089. This research has made use of Aladin sky atlas
developed at CDS, Strasbourg Observatory, France (Bonnarel et al.
2000; Boch & Fernique 2014). TOPCAT (Taylor 2005) and STILTS
(Taylor 2006) have also been widely used in this paper.
We thank the anonymous referee for the helpful suggestions. The
authors are greatly indebted to Detlev Koester for sharing his grid
of model atmosphere white dwarf spectra. The authors also thank
Roberto Raddi for sharing the grid of white dwarf absolute magnitudes calculated for the Gaia EDR3 bandpasses.
This work has made use of data from the European Space
Agency (ESA) mission Gaia (https://www.cosmos.esa.int/
gaia), processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC, https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dpac/
consortium). Funding for the DPAC has been provided by national
institutions, in particular the institutions participating in the Gaia
Multilateral AgreementPostprint (updated version
A new key locality for the Pliocene vertebrate record of Europe : the Camp dels Ninots maar (NE Spain)
A new Pliocene Konservat-Lagerstätte in north-eastern Spain is described here for the first time. It is referred to as Camp dels Ninots. The particular geological conditions of the site, which correspond to lacustrine sedimentation in a maar, made it ideal for the preservation of fossils. At present, five large mammal skeletons in anatomical connection have been recovered: three individuals of Alephis tigneresi, one of Stephanorhinus jeanvireti and one of Tapirus arvernenis, as well as isolated remains. A minimum of five individuals of the chelonian Mauremys leprosa have been recovered, some of them in anatomical connection. The rodent Apodemus atavus, the amphibians cf. Pleurodeles sp., Lissotriton aff. helveticus and Pelophylax cf. perezi and freshwater fishes (Leuciscus ?) complete the vertebrate assemblage uncovered up to the present time. The coexistence of Stephanorhinus jeanvireti and Alephis tigneresi suggests an age of about 3.2Ma for the Camp dels Ninots, near the MN15-MN16 transition. The Camp del Ninots fossil record enables one to extend the biogeographic range of some vertebrate taxa, such as Stephanorhinus jeanvireti, Tapirus arvernensis or Mauremys leprosa to the Iberian Peninsula. Taphonomic evidences of the skeletal remains indicates minimal (if any) weathering. Deposition at the lake bottom seems to have taken place in oxygen depleted layers. In this way, Camp dels Ninots is comparable to other remarkable maar sites such as Messel, the Eocene site situated in Germany
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